


The parts in the sum of the whole

by Daughter_of_the_TARDIS



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Happy Anniversary, Sadness, Too sweet, to the married idiots who took over my life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 15:51:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14405418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daughter_of_the_TARDIS/pseuds/Daughter_of_the_TARDIS
Summary: That was why a lot of people took his class, or even just attended his lectures when they had a chance - in order to try and solve the mystery that was the Doctor.  And every once in awhile, someone would get lucky enough that they would find out just one more thing about him.Eventually, they learned about her.





	The parts in the sum of the whole

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be a character study of the doctor taking place during his time at St Luke's University. Of course being me writing it, it quickly devolved in two different ways that River Song has impacted his life since she died - and how she will never stop surprising him.
> 
> Happy anniversary to the married pair who have taken over every inch of my life without a care.
> 
> Thanks to my amazing beta, pure-ninja, for all her amazing help! I wouldn't be able to write half of the things I do without her.

The Doctor was one of the best lecturers at St. Luke’s University, and everyone knew it.

It wasn't because of his lecture style. It had absolutely nothing to do with his attitude, which was frankly atrocious and made him the subject of gossip among the other lecturers. It didn't even really have that much to do with his lectures themselves. While the diverse variety of the topics, and the pure energy he conveyed brought students in, the random changes in topics irritated a lot of them.

But it did have everything to do with how he treated his students. He was of the opinion that people were idiots - anyone that had ever so much as met him in passing could tell you that. There were many people in the world that he couldn't stand - irritating people, stupid people, people who bullied others. 

But then there were the people that he loved. The rebels, the trouble-makers, the knowledge-seekers. The ones who would spend half their lives in libraries, hidden between the pages of books and living in worlds of fiction and ink, just because they could. The ones who were willing to put their reputations, and their lives, on the line in the name of science and discovery. The ones who could - and someday, maybe would - change the world. His gruff exterior would melt just a bit around them, and in that one moment, they would see just how special they really were.

He was a mystery. No one knew anything about him, really. Not where he was from, not what his name really was, not even where he lived. All that they knew about him was that he was called the Doctor, he had lectured at St. Luke's for seventy plus years, and he could often be seen around campus with a strange bald man in a funny coat.

That was why a lot of people took his class, or even just attended his lectures when they had a chance - in order to try and solve the mystery that was the Doctor. And every once in awhile, someone would get lucky enough that they would find out just one more thing about him.

Eventually, they learned about her.

8888

He stopped his lecture, scowling into the audience. “Who's crying?” He demanded, icy blue eyes scanning the crowd. He hadn't even called anyone in this class an idiot yet today, he wasn't sure why they would be crying.

“I'm so sorry.” He looked up, finding who was speaking. In the fourth row back, there was a tiny woman with black curls and a curvy figure. She cradled a baby close to her chest as she began to gather her books, taking care to not accidentally bump the child. “I'll take him out, its really no problem…”

“What are you doing?” He asked, confused. “Why are you leaving?” Then he realised what was happening, and sighed. “Give me the tiny human.” He said, jumping down from the stage and walking up to where she sat, holding his arms out and open. She looked at him cautiously, but he just gestured impatiently. “Come on, then, let me see him.”

She handed him her son, half expecting him to start yelling at the still fussing baby. What she didn't expect was for him to start gently rocking the baby and bouncing around the room even as he began talking to the baby. “I'm sorry, was I being too loud?” He half-whispered, smiling at the tot. “I've been told that I can do that quite a lot. I promise I'll try to be quieter.”

“Right then, what was I talking about?” He asked, and the baby babbled in response. A wide grin covered his face as he nodded his head. “Ah yes of course. Bees.”. He turned back towards the lecture hall, continuing to talk to his students as he rocked the baby to sleep.

“Then, of course, they started to disappear, back in 2009. Most people didn't notice, which is ridiculous, I mean really, they are the key to the whole ecosystem surviving. They even made a whole movie about it…”

It wasn't until the end of the lecture that he said another word to the young mother. “You - the one with the marvelous tiny human and the space hair. Stay after class.” He barked out, still rocking her baby in his arms even though the child had long since fallen asleep.

She came up to him, looking nervous. “I'm so sorry, Doctor.” She said, wringing her hands as she talked. “I swear it won't happen again.”

“What's your name?” He asked. 

“Darcy, sir.” She said. “Darcy Potts.”

“Do you know what, Darcy Potts?” the Doctor asked, studying her. “You are brilliant.”

She blinked. “Sorry, what?”

“You heard me.” He said, leaning back against the edge of the stage after handing her child back to her. “Tell you what.” He continued, looking serious. “Come to my office if you need any help for tutoring. But don't bring the tiny human. I'll just get distracted.”

She was almost out of the lecture hall when she turned around.

“Sorry to ask, Doctor, but… d’you have children?” she regretted asking the question almost immediately once she saw the haunted look that had settled in his eyes.

He smiled sadly as he thought of the children he had lost on Gallifrey, to either war or old age or because they couldn't stand to be related to the rebel Time Lord. Of the petite blonde woman who had died in his arms on Messaline, whose first words had been “Hello, Dad” and who hadn't even been able to see an entire day before she was gone. Of all the times that he and River had tried for children, but had never succeeded.

“Yes.” He replied softly, staring straight ahead, lost in his memories. “I did. A long, long time ago.”

8888

People screamed when the door to the lecture hall burst open. Soldiers in black body armor began pouring through the doors, taking up positions around the perimeter of the room, their guns at the ready. Everyone in the room was panicking, except for the Doctor. 

He was just irritated.

So when Kate Lethbridge-Stewart came through the door, coat billowing around her knees and one of the Osgoods on her heels, she got a right bollocking by the students standards. Of course, by what Kate knew about the Doctor's past, this was nothing compared to his usual standards.

“Sit down and shut it before I throw you out of the damn room.” He barked.

“Doctor-” she began, but wasn't even able to finish what she was going to say.

“No, Kate.” He said, not even bothering to turn away from the blackboard that he was writing on.

“You haven't even heard what I have to ask.”

The Doctor turned away from his drawing on the board, his fingers smeared with chalk. “And I won't listen to it until after class. Now sit down. And tell your pudding-brains to lower their weapons.” 

There was a moment where every student in the room held their breath, sure that their professor was about to be shot down. They had no idea what was going on, of course, but it was obviously serious. Bill was nearly biting her nails in worry at the thought. 

And then their respect for him practically doubled, because the scary lady who looked like she was in charge made a single hand motion, and every gun in the room was lowered. She sat down in an empty chair, the woman in the ridiculous rainbow coat sitting next to her. “Go on then.” The blonde woman sighed.

“Right then.” The Doctor said, spreading his hands. “Where were we?”

“Dark matter.” One of the students replied, sounding confused. “Although you were supposed to be lecturing on plants?”

“Well yes, they're related, obviously.” He said, before returning to the lecture. He was a couple minutes into it when he stopped again, glaring heavily at the brunette woman in the ridiculous coat. “Shut it, Petronella.” He snapped. He was walking away when she responded.

“I didn't say anything!” She protested.

“You didn't have to.” He snorted. “Your disapproval was audible. Now shut up and let me teach.”

“Alright then.” her tone was teasing, but there was a certain tenseness hidden there that made him stop. The class broke out into whispers at this bit of information, wondering what it meant. “Tell us how plants and dark matter are related.”

“I will if you stop talking and pay attention.” he muttered.

Nardole joined him at the chalkboard at the end of the lecture, once all the students had left and it was just them and the UNIT people. “I like her. The one with the glasses and the ridiculous coat.”

“Who are they? And how do they know you?” Bill asked, joining them at the front of the room. 

“If I ask you to leave, will you?” The Doctor asked his student dryly. She didn't even bother answering, instead just shooting him a look. “Didn't think so.” he sighed, then explained. “They're UNIT. I used to work for them, back in the seventies… or it might have been the eighties.”

“How do you not know when you worked for them?” Bill asked. “Did they not have any calendars or something?”

They turned around just as Kate and Osgood came walking up to them.

“New companions.” Kate noted, holding out a hand for them to shake. “Kate Stewart, Chief Scientific Officer of UNIT.”

Bill took the offered hand, shaking it awkwardly. “Bill Potts.” she said. “But don’t you already know that? ‘Cause you seem a bit like the shady government types, is all…” she trailed off nervously at the amused looks that both women were giving her. The younger one whispered something to the blonde before walking off, grabbing her bag and ruffling through it.

“Why are you here, Kate?” the Doctor snapped, looking irritated. “We had a deal - you don’t interrupt me while I’m teaching, and I keep Nardole instead of shipping him off to you.”

Kate huffed a laugh before replying, but Bill had already tuned them out. It was obvious that if she wanted to know what was going on, asking them wasn’t going to work. She left the adults to argue and made her way over to the adorable scientist instead. She was pouring over something, and Bill smiled as she pushed her glasses up her nose. 

“So what’s UNIT?” Bill asked, startling the brunette scientist into dropping the file that she was holding. “Shit, sorry.” she apologized, bending over to help pick up the papers.

“It’s alright.” she said, giving Bill a nervous smile that made her heart race a bit. “Sorry, I should have introduced myself. I’m Osgood.”

“Didn’t the Doctor call you Petronella?” Bill asked, but the other woman just winced. “Not that it’s any of my business.” she quickly added.

Osgood laughed it off, shaking her head. “It’s alright.” she said. “How long have you been traveling with the Doctor?” 

Before she could answer, she heard her name.

“Bill.” the Doctor called, gesturing for her to join him. “Come and see this.”

The two women shared a look before making their way over to the Time Lord. Spread out on the stage was a large scroll, painted in iridescent colors that shimmered across the paper.

“What is it?” Bill asked, stunned. “It's beautiful.”

“It's not from this planet.” The Doctor said quietly. Nardole took a jeweler's eyepiece out of his pocket, leaning in to examine the image closely.

“Definitely not.” He agreed, slipping the item back into his waistcoat. “Looks to be from at least a star system over.”

“We’re not exactly sure where it came from.” Kate admitted. “A trading vessel from Andran brought it to HQ in a sealed container - it had been left on a planet in their quadrant with strict instructions on when to deliver it.” 

“Interesting.” the Doctor muttered.

That was when Bill noticed the soft grin on his face. “You know what it is.” She deduced. That got everyone else's attention quickly.

“She's right.” Kate said, but she wasn't looking at the scroll like the rest of them were - she was studying the Doctor's face like Bill had. “You know exactly what it is.”

He pursed his lips, not saying anything for a minute. “It's a love letter.” He said, the tips of his ears heating slightly. He kept his eyes trained on the paper, ignoring the knowing look that Nardole was giving him and the curious looks that everyone else was sending his way.

“How?” Bill asked. “There's no words.”

But he pointed to one of the lines of paint. “Look closer.” He instructed. They all leaned in, and then Osgood saw it.

“There’s writing hidden in the paint.” she said, pointing it out. “It looks like English.” They leaned in to try and read it, but the Doctor quickly grabbed it and rolled it tightly, sticking it back in the case that it arrived in.

“That’s enough of that.” he said, his voice tight. “Thank you, Kate, for… bringing this to my attention. I’ll keep it safe in the TARDIS.”

“Who is it from?” Osgood asked, looking like she already had an idea. A small smile crossed her lips as she stared at the Doctor - almost as if she was daring him to ignore her.

He mumbled an answer, and her smirk grew - even Kate was beginning to look amused. “Sorry, what was that?” the blonde asked. 

“I said it’s from my wife.” he snapped, scowling when he saw how amused they were with his antics. “Happy?”

“We’ll leave you at it then, Doctor.” Kate said, and she and Osgood made their way up the stairs. They were almost out of the room when the Doctor called them back.

“And Kate.” He called out. “Thank you.”

8888

He didn't know who she was, but she had been standing in the doorway of his office for the past ten minutes and it was starting to annoy him. If she cleared her throat one more time he would go insane, and that was saying something when considering just how mad he already was.

“Yes, what do you want?” He snapped, barely sparing her a glance.

“I was just wondering,” she said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “If you'd like a coffee?”

“That would be great.” He replied, not even looking up from his grading. “Black, seven sugars for me. Thanks.”

She rolled her eyes - not that he noticed - and made her way over to his desk, resting on the corner of it. That made him look up at least, although the look of mild annoyance on his face made her wince slightly. That wince quickly turned into a pout when he barely spared her a glance before turning back to the papers in front of him.

“That's not what I meant.” She said, brushing a hand over his desk. “You and me, go get coffee. Together.”

“Oh.” He said, eyes widening slightly. “No, that's not necessary actually.” 

“Sure it is.” She said, moving slightly closer. He moved his chair an inch or so backward. “After all, I'm new here. I could use someone to show me around.” 

“Ah. Well, if that's all you wanted.” He got up from his chair, moving over to the door. “Here's the door. There you go, I've shown you around. Bye now.” He flashed a quick grin before his face settled into his usual scowl.

She got up, moving closer. “Oh, I'm sure that you can do better than that.” 

He stopped what he was doing, looking at her seriously. “I think you should leave.” he said gently, trying to keep her from doing anything too emotional. Even with all the centuries he had spent in this body, emotions were still enough to confuse him at times. 

“Why? What’s wrong?” she asked, moving closer to him. He took another step back, tensing. “It’s just coffee - I’m not asking you to marry me.” 

“Ah, see - that’s the thing.” he said, relieved that he didn’t have to bring up the topic himself. “I’m sure you’re lovely, but I’m already married. And she’s absolutely perfect, you see, so if you could just leave before things get messy, that would be great…” he trailed off, seeing the disbelieving look on her face.

“You’re married?” she asked, shocked. She had seen the ring that he wore, of course - everyone had - but no one ever really believed that he was. The Doctor was as cross as they could be, and no one had ever been willing to try and get past that, except for her - at least that was what she thought.

His face melted into a soppy expression at the very thought of her - of his wife, she thought bitterly. But when he started to wax poetic about how brilliant she was, she soon found that she couldn’t be mad anymore.

8888

Bill walked into the Doctor's office, looking for him. He was supposed to have been in lecture today, but had never showed up - much to everyone's disappointment. But he wasn’t there - he wasn’t grading papers, working on lectures, or even just annoying Nardole by playing his guitar as loudly as he possibly could.

Nardole was in the office, scurrying around and tidying things up and generally looking more nervous than usual. “What's going on?” She asked. “Where's the Doctor?”

“In the TARDIS.” Nardole replied, but he panicked slightly when she made her way over to the blue box sitting in the corner. “No no, don't go in there.” He hissed, as though it should have been obvious.

“Why?” She asked, hand still resting on the blue wood of the door. Even the TARDIS seemed to be a bit nervous, she realized with a shock. Her usual friendly hum seemed heavier - like she was warning the girl away. 

“Today's their anniversary.” Nardole said quietly. He gestured towards the picture on the Doctor's desk - the one of his wife. He had first mentioned her in 1814, at the Frost Fair, but other than that story, she only knew tiny things about her that he randomly dropped into conversation. She knew that she had been a teacher, from a comment he made when grading papers; that she loved to tease him from a comment he made when she was joking with him; and that she loved danger, just from the wistful look he sometimes got when they were running for their lives.

“Is he okay?” she asked. Nardole didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. The TARDIS hummed again underneath her fingertips, and then the door - which had refused to open only a minute before - creaked open, revealing the darkened console room.

It only took her five minutes or so to find him - she just followed the sounds of voices and laughter through the corridors until she found the media room.

He sat in the darkness, curled up in an armchair with a nostalgic grin on his face and a glass of brandy in his hand. His clothes were even messier than they usually were, and a strip of cloth was laying in his lap. Her attention was pulled to the screen as a woman laughed, low and throaty.

“ _Sweetie,_ ” the voice laughed, and the camera shifted to reveal his wife. She was laying in a massive bed, the comforter and pillows strewn all around the room and had a man’s shirt on. A small blue book was open in front of her, and she was scribbling away. “ _Would you put that bloody thing away?_ ”

“ _And why should I, eh?_ ” A voice responded from behind the camera, and Bill frowned. That wasn't the Doctor's voice - it was slightly higher-pitched, and British instead of Scottish. “ _It's our honeymoon._ ”

_“Yes it is.”_ She purred, looking up at him. “ _So if you want to get to the fun part, you should put that down._ ”

The screen promptly blurred as the camera fell to the floor, and she could hear the combined laughter of the pair on the bed for a moment before the screen went black.

The next clip to play a few seconds later showed the Doctor and his wife. Someone else was taking the video of them - they were in a ballroom somewhere, with crystal chandeliers and red carpets. He was in a proper suit, and she wore a ball gown and heels, her hair falling freely over her shoulders. They were dancing in that sort of way that you only ever hear about in stories or sometimes see at weddings - like they were the only two people in the room, dancing like they didn’t have a care in the world. He whispered something in her ear, and she threw her head back, laughing. 

“What are you doing here, Bill?” the Doctor asked, and she jumped. She had been so entranced by the images on the screen that she had forgotten that she technically wasn’t even supposed to be in the TARDIS at all.

“I came to find you.” she said, crossing the room to sit on the couch. “See if you were okay.”

“I’m fine.” he said, his face twisting into something that she assumed was supposed to be a smile. “I’m the king of okay.”

She waited until there was a pause in the clip before saying anything. “What was her name?” Bill asked quietly.

The Doctor waited until the clip ended before answering as the lights came up. “River.” He said, his voice gruff from disuse. “River Song.”

8888

The students of St. Luke's thought they knew the Doctor. They thought they knew just how angry he could get. They had heard all of his rants about 'pudding-brain politicians’. They had seen him react to people who didn’t do their work, people who were terrible bullies to others, and the ones that he hated most of all - stupid people who were convinced that they were smart and knew what they were doing.

But they hadn't seen anything. Not really. That is, until the day when some of the upperclassmen thought it would be a laugh to break into his office and see what they could find.

Normally, he wouldn't even have bothered looking for them except to lecture them for awhile on how wrong that what they were doing was. Only they had taken things from his office, to prove that they had actually done it. He wouldn't have cared if they had taken knick knacks or any of the first edition books off the shelves. He wouldn't have even been that worried if they had stolen any of the old models of his sonic screwdrivers - it would have been child's play for him to steal them back.

But they didn't take any of those things. Instead, they took pictures. Not any of the antique photos on his walls, nor the original Van Gogh he had hanging in a corner. They took the two pictures off of his desk - one of them an old black and white photograph of a young girl with short black hair, and the other a color photo of a curly-haired vixen with a smirk on her painted lips.

That was what caused him to snap. 

He hunted them down with all the fury of the oncoming storm, leaving a trail of destruction and tears in his wake. Once he found them, he destroyed them - or he would have, if not for what the students swore was a conversation he had with the pictures. 

8888

“Right.” The Doctor said as he walked into the lecture hall, fifteen minutes late. He was covered in dust, his jacket was ripped, and he was limping slightly, but he was smiling like none of his students had ever seen - except for Bill. It was the sort of smile that he got when he had managed to do the impossible and save the day even when there was no way that his plan could have possibly worked. “I'm going to be honest with you, I don't have a lecture planned for today. So here's what I'm going to do - I'm going to let one of you pick what I lecture about today, with one condition. It has to be amazing.”

A voice called out from the back of the classroom. “Archaeology.” 

The Doctor looked up at the ceiling in exasperation for a moment, before turning in the general direction of the voice. “Right, now that would be an example of something that's _not_ amazing. Its the opposite of amazing, really. Deadly dull. Deadly _and_ dull.” he scanned the seats, trying to figure out who had been enough of a pudding brain to even suggest the topic.

Then he froze, seeing a familiar head of curls. Of course, those were the first thing he saw, those curls. They were the first thing he always saw, really, when it came to her. Then he saw her eyes - deep pools of green and grey and blue, all swirled together and sparkling with mischief. Next was her nose, with that bump in the middle that he loved to kiss, followed by her lips, curved upwards in amusement. 

“Ah.” He said, and her lips twitched upwards even further. “Yes. Hello, dear.”

There was nervous twittering from the class as they twisted and turned, trying to see who the Doctor was talking to. He regained their attention a moment later when he gestured towards River. “Yes. Well. Today you all get a special treat - all the way from Luna University. Professor River Song, everyone!” With that, he jumped down from the stage, grabbing the seat next to Bill. He settled down into it, steepling his hands under his chin

“Isn't that…” Bill started to ask, but the Doctor interrupted.

“Yes, now hush.” he said, crossing his arms over his chest and settling down into his seat.

River made her way up the aisle, her heels clicking against the floor as she walked. Heads turned as she walked, and for a moment he was going to sulk, because people always loved River more. But then she stopped and kissed his cheek, and he forgot why he was mad.

“Thank you, sweetie.” She said, and he preened as every head in the room turned to stare at him in shock. River finished making her way to the podium, and the room was deadly silent as she looked at them all.

“Well then.” She began, smiling. “Archaeology. As I’m sure you’ve never had a _proper_ lecture on the subject,” she teased, making the students laugh, “I’ll start with the basics, shall I?” 

He stopped paying attention to what she was actually saying, and instead focused on the way her eyes lit up when she talked, how she moved and almost danced around the stage as she spoke. She cleared off his chalkboard to draw diagrams and write in ancient languages, and practically beamed whenever anyone answered a particularly difficult question.

He was almost disappointed when she finished the lecture, and the room was dead silent for almost a minute. Until she asked- “Any questions?”

Instantly, every hand in the room is up. She preened slightly, sending her husband a smug smile. He just rolled his eyes, smiling fondly in return.

“How do you know the Doctor?” was the first one asked, and she rolled her eyes. 

“Are there any questions about archaeology?” Every hand in the room went down, and he couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped. She sighed, but settled on the edge of the stage, swinging her legs over the edge. “Gossip session it is, then.” she muttered. “Right. How do I know the Doctor?” she sent him a teasing look, her eyes dancing with mischief as the next word rolled off of her tongue. “ _Intimately_.”

He blushed and tried to sink lower in his chair as every student in the room turned to stare at him in disbelief. That only lasted for a moment though, before she captured their attention again and began answering more questions, somehow managing to redirect half of their questions and requests for gossip into archaeology.

“Your wife is totally awesome.” Bill said quietly, nudging him in the side.

He gave her a wide grin, his face practically splitting in two with the strength of it. “I know.”


End file.
